Drugs send Hurley, Clipfell to prison

Thursday

Jul 17, 2014 at 3:00 PM

By Don Reiddwreid@aol.comCOLDWATER — Drugs — heroin and meth — sent Jason Hursley and Joey Clipfell back to prison.Branch County Circuit Judge Bill O’Grady sent Hursley, 35, to prison for 23 months to four years after he was found with heroin at the Cadet Motor Lodge when police went to arrest him for absconding from parole in March.Clipfell, 36, will serve 20 months to 10 years for possession of a meth lab at his Prairie River home in February.Both men’s new sentences are consecutive to prior terms for which they were on parole.Branch County Sheriff's Office deputies found Clipfell had purchased pseudoephedrine — a main meth component — the day before his arrest. Officers checked Clipfell's home and found used "one pot cooks" in a burn barrel.When Clipfell was sentenced for his first meth conviction in 2008 he told the court he got hooked on meth the first time he tried it."After feeling the high of it, it’s hard to put down," he said.Hursley was on parole for his third drug conviction from Calhoun County. He moved to the Coldwater Motel where police tracked him down.He admitted a spoon used to cook heroin was in his pocket when he was arrested."I should have grabbed the other pants to put on," he said.Hursley asked to be sent to the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission drug rehab program."I apologize to my family for screwing up again," he said.O’Grady told Hursley, "You are way beyond Gospel Mission. You keep using after every release."